monthly media recap: august!
august 26th, 2023
on a whim, i just decided it would be fun to write up recaps of media i have been enjoying each month! i doubt i will properly keep up with this on a monthly basis - but we'll see what happens!
this month, i have been super into visual novels and manga!
of course, i've also played some regular video games, too. i am notoriously known for not relaxing, so i'm actually very proud of how many games i have been able to get through lately. granted, all of these titles are about 5-15 hours total gameplay length wise, but honestly, i prefer it that way! the perfect game is under 20 hours long in my opinion, especially if it has a strong narative to follow. i've never been a fan of stuff that is too long...
alright, enough rambling! i'm going to write some quick thoughts on all the titles i've beat lately:
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
i highly recommend this visual novel! this story has a solid cast and mystery plot that kept me guessing! there were also a few genre-bending meta aspects to this game that i found to be really cool!
character portrait art is pleasing to look at, and what i enjoyed even more is this visual novel makes use of a variety of small animations and camera angle changes to keep things interesting throughout the dialogue. at times, i find it difficult to concentrate on visual novels despite loving them, so this vn having variety and movement to go with the text really helped me stay focused!
overall, i loved it! please check it out!
Saya no Uta (The Song of Saya)
did i enjoy this game? well...enjoy doesn't seem to be the right word. i couldn't put it down, sure, but to say i "enjoyed" this game doesn't feel right. i rather, experienced it. and this isn't me trying to be pretentious, it's me saying it feels wrong to say i liked a game like this when you consider the subject manner of it.
if you have a strong stomach and love horror, i would check out this game. it's interesting. but just get ready for a lot of uh... well, basically every trigger in the book. really not for people with a weak stomach.
i'm glad i played this game, as it is often peoples introduction to visual novels. many consider it a cult classic, so i needed to experience it for myself first hand.
that said, i'm never touching this title ever again lol
planetarian
i don't cry much these days. i think crying is good, in fact, i would LOVE to cry more. there are often moments in media consumption where i think to myself, "ah, shouldn't an emotional moment like this make me cry?" and i never do.
so, the fact that the ending of this game really made me cry says something.
overall, this story was amazing. when the game started, i thought to myself "yeah, i can see how this is going to end." friends had told me it was sad. well, let me tell you, it was so much worse than i thought! but please, check this game out, especially if you're a fan of post-apocalyptic settings!
Necrobarista
this game is so damn australian.
i liked this visual novel, but didn't love it. the ending felt a bit rushed, and i wished the characters were maybe fleshed out just a little more. that said, i do reccommend it, as it was a pleasing experience, and it's quite short, which is actually a good thing in my book.
the character models and overall visuals of this game are oozing with style. it is so very clear that that creator of this game was heavily influenced by the visual style of the monogatari series.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
RULES OF NATUREEEEE
this game is amazing. every person alive should play this game. i don't care if you've played any other metal gear game. you don't need to. just play this.
it's like if you took a corny action movie and pumped it up with steroids. i'm not being ironic when i'm saying this game was EPIC. press button. press button go fast. gameplay is so much fun. it's so speedy and just overall a blast. this has legit become one of my all time favorite games. what the hell.
so many memeable moments. but they're just fucking good. i don't know this shit is just so edgy and awesome.
play this goddamn game.
killer7
whenever i said i haven't played this game in the past, the reaction was almost always "what?! no way! you gotta play it!"
i actually struggled to get into killer7 at first, because i found the gameplay slow and strange. starting out, there's a whole lot that just had me go "huh?"
if you wanted to play killer7 and that was also your reaction, i encourage you to keep playing. stop thinking so much. just play the game, and take it in.
eventually, i found the gameplay loop and puzzles to be very satisfying. i became attached to most of the assassins in the smith syndicate, despite the very little dialogue they all have.
i've always been a huge suda51 fan - no more heroes is my favorite game, and i loved the silver case as well as flower, sun, and rain. killer7 is probably one of his most popular titles, and i felt like a "fake fan" for not playing this sooner.
although some of the game's plot intricacies are lost on me (people write entire essays on this game attempting to explain the plot) i very much enjoyed the experience.
games just don't get made like this anymore. this is an experimental masterpiece. some hate suda51's stylistic approach, claiming he's a style over substance sorta creator. to that i say: so what?
there is no other game out there quite like killer7.
goodbye, eri
i read this one shot manga in one sitting, while hanging out with some friends in the park, having a picnic.
perhaps this is an unopoular opinion, but this mangaka, tatsuki fujimoto (author of chainsaw man) thrives better writing short stories rather than longer ones. i really crave to read more of his one-shot type work, because this title was truly fantastic.
inside mari
i've only read volume 1, but i really like the premise of this manga so far. this mangaka penned one of my all time favorite series, aku no hana (flowers of evil). interested to see where it goes!
welcome back, alice
hmmm, mixed feelings on this title so far.
i feel as if it may be leaning into a negative stereotype of trans people, claiming that they are overly sexual, and in worst case scenarios ra•••ts.
at the same time, it is depicting a presumably transfem (nonbinary? the story is unclear) character in an interesting way. i'll just have to read more and see how i feel.
and i haven't read these yet, but next up on my media consumption list are these books! i've never really read light novels before, so i got a few i can dig into!
on a whim, i just decided it would be fun to write up recaps of media i have been enjoying each month! i doubt i will properly keep up with this on a monthly basis - but we'll see what happens!
this month, i have been super into visual novels and manga!
of course, i've also played some regular video games, too. i am notoriously known for not relaxing, so i'm actually very proud of how many games i have been able to get through lately. granted, all of these titles are about 5-15 hours total gameplay length wise, but honestly, i prefer it that way! the perfect game is under 20 hours long in my opinion, especially if it has a strong narative to follow. i've never been a fan of stuff that is too long...
alright, enough rambling! i'm going to write some quick thoughts on all the titles i've beat lately:
games
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
i highly recommend this visual novel! this story has a solid cast and mystery plot that kept me guessing! there were also a few genre-bending meta aspects to this game that i found to be really cool!
character portrait art is pleasing to look at, and what i enjoyed even more is this visual novel makes use of a variety of small animations and camera angle changes to keep things interesting throughout the dialogue. at times, i find it difficult to concentrate on visual novels despite loving them, so this vn having variety and movement to go with the text really helped me stay focused!
overall, i loved it! please check it out!
Saya no Uta (The Song of Saya)
did i enjoy this game? well...enjoy doesn't seem to be the right word. i couldn't put it down, sure, but to say i "enjoyed" this game doesn't feel right. i rather, experienced it. and this isn't me trying to be pretentious, it's me saying it feels wrong to say i liked a game like this when you consider the subject manner of it.
if you have a strong stomach and love horror, i would check out this game. it's interesting. but just get ready for a lot of uh... well, basically every trigger in the book. really not for people with a weak stomach.
i'm glad i played this game, as it is often peoples introduction to visual novels. many consider it a cult classic, so i needed to experience it for myself first hand.
that said, i'm never touching this title ever again lol
planetarian
i don't cry much these days. i think crying is good, in fact, i would LOVE to cry more. there are often moments in media consumption where i think to myself, "ah, shouldn't an emotional moment like this make me cry?" and i never do.
so, the fact that the ending of this game really made me cry says something.
overall, this story was amazing. when the game started, i thought to myself "yeah, i can see how this is going to end." friends had told me it was sad. well, let me tell you, it was so much worse than i thought! but please, check this game out, especially if you're a fan of post-apocalyptic settings!
Necrobarista
this game is so damn australian.
i liked this visual novel, but didn't love it. the ending felt a bit rushed, and i wished the characters were maybe fleshed out just a little more. that said, i do reccommend it, as it was a pleasing experience, and it's quite short, which is actually a good thing in my book.
the character models and overall visuals of this game are oozing with style. it is so very clear that that creator of this game was heavily influenced by the visual style of the monogatari series.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
RULES OF NATUREEEEE
this game is amazing. every person alive should play this game. i don't care if you've played any other metal gear game. you don't need to. just play this.
it's like if you took a corny action movie and pumped it up with steroids. i'm not being ironic when i'm saying this game was EPIC. press button. press button go fast. gameplay is so much fun. it's so speedy and just overall a blast. this has legit become one of my all time favorite games. what the hell.
so many memeable moments. but they're just fucking good. i don't know this shit is just so edgy and awesome.
play this goddamn game.
killer7
whenever i said i haven't played this game in the past, the reaction was almost always "what?! no way! you gotta play it!"
i actually struggled to get into killer7 at first, because i found the gameplay slow and strange. starting out, there's a whole lot that just had me go "huh?"
if you wanted to play killer7 and that was also your reaction, i encourage you to keep playing. stop thinking so much. just play the game, and take it in.
eventually, i found the gameplay loop and puzzles to be very satisfying. i became attached to most of the assassins in the smith syndicate, despite the very little dialogue they all have.
i've always been a huge suda51 fan - no more heroes is my favorite game, and i loved the silver case as well as flower, sun, and rain. killer7 is probably one of his most popular titles, and i felt like a "fake fan" for not playing this sooner.
although some of the game's plot intricacies are lost on me (people write entire essays on this game attempting to explain the plot) i very much enjoyed the experience.
games just don't get made like this anymore. this is an experimental masterpiece. some hate suda51's stylistic approach, claiming he's a style over substance sorta creator. to that i say: so what?
there is no other game out there quite like killer7.
manga/books
goodbye, eri
i read this one shot manga in one sitting, while hanging out with some friends in the park, having a picnic.
perhaps this is an unopoular opinion, but this mangaka, tatsuki fujimoto (author of chainsaw man) thrives better writing short stories rather than longer ones. i really crave to read more of his one-shot type work, because this title was truly fantastic.
inside mari
i've only read volume 1, but i really like the premise of this manga so far. this mangaka penned one of my all time favorite series, aku no hana (flowers of evil). interested to see where it goes!
welcome back, alice
hmmm, mixed feelings on this title so far.
i feel as if it may be leaning into a negative stereotype of trans people, claiming that they are overly sexual, and in worst case scenarios ra•••ts.
at the same time, it is depicting a presumably transfem (nonbinary? the story is unclear) character in an interesting way. i'll just have to read more and see how i feel.
and i haven't read these yet, but next up on my media consumption list are these books! i've never really read light novels before, so i got a few i can dig into!